The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (48 page)

“
Okay,
guys. This is it. If anyone is having second thoughts, now is the
time to say so.”

“
Let's
do this,” Aaron said and took a deep breath.

“
Ready,”
Maria said, her staff ready in her hands.

“
Jason?”
Justin looked at him. Jason pulled his hammer off of his shoulder and
gave a short nod.

“
Okay
then,” Justin grabbed his sickle and held it tightly.
“Everyone, put one hand on me and I'll lead us through the
Gate.”

All
three of them put a hand on either Justin's shoulder or his arm.
“Right. On three. One, two...”

“
Hold
it, young man!” Justin looked up to see Borgen racing towards
them.

“
Oh
crap, I was right,” he muttered. “Three!” And he
walked forward into the puddle, the others in perfect step with him.

There
was a rush of sound and then a splash as Justin felt like he had
fallen into deep, black water. The cold was numbing and he felt
himself sinking ever deeper into icy darkness.

The
curtain Gate, he kept thinking. Take me to the curtain Gate.

It had
been so long since he had traveled by Gate that he found himself
starting to panic. Calm, Justin, calm. Hold your breath. Concentrate
on your destination. That's all.

And
then, a flash of light, a huge crash of water and he found himself
standing next to a curtain of water that emerged from a slit in the
ceiling and disappeared through a wide hole in the floor. He looked
around quickly and saw that the others were still with him.

Maria
and Jason slumped back against the wall, breathing heavily. Aaron
looked okay, although he was paler than usual and his long blonde
hair seemed to be plastered to his skull with sweat. Justin breathed
slowing until his heart stopped thumping loudly in his chest.

“
Okay,
I officially hate traveling that way,” Jason finally said
weakly.

“
Yeah,
it does take some getting used to,” Maria agreed. “But,
at least we stay dry. I wonder how it does that?” She looked
down the long, unbroken hallway ahead. “Only one way to go,
Justin?”

“
Yep.
Straight down until you see the stairs. There are two corridors
leading off at that point but we'll just be going up.”

“
Well,
let's get on with it then.”

Maria
led the way, walking slowly and listening for any noise. The three
guys followed closely, as quietly as possible. Justin saw that Aaron
had put his glove on and nodded with approval.

They
followed the hallway for a good five minutes until they reached the
stairs. There were no sounds and no signs of guards. Justin was
reassured but only slightly. They were in enemy territory now and
their foe had every advantage except one. They didn't know that the
teens were here. They had to keep it that way.

At the
bottom of the stairs, they stopped and looked at each other. The air
was still and smelled of stone dust.

“
Who
gets to go first?” Jason asked.

“
I
will,” Maria said firmly. “If there's a guard, I'll try
to take him or her out quietly.”

“
Go
ahead, Maria,” Justin said. “You set the pace.”

“
Right.
Follow along; just not too close.”

Maria
set off, climbing the steep steps slowly and listening intently as
she went. Justin, Aaron and Jason followed side by side, carefully
giving her room to maneuver, just in case.

Finally
they reached the top. A wide archway stood before them and Maria
hugged the wall and approached the entrance carefully, while the
others waited, nerves on edge.

She
peered around the side of the arch and then looked both ways. She
turned back and waved them forward.

“
No
one here,” she whispered when they joined her. “And I
can't see any movement in the room at all, at least not as far as the
fountain.”

“
Where's
the door to that Arena room, Justin?” Jason asked anxiously.

Justin
pointed to the left. “It will be the second door we come to.
See, about thirty yards.”

“
Go
for it?” Maria asked them. They all agreed and Maria led them
out of the doorway.

Justin
felt incredibly exposed as they crept along the wall, almost bent
double to keep a low profile. But there was no sound or movement. For
a moment, he allowed himself to remember what the place had looked
like the first time he saw it.

There
had been a group of teens sitting around the fountain, talking and
laughing. And patrolling around the room had been several Sentinels;
giant, bronze-colored guards who were shaped like legendary monsters.
Justin's favorite had been the minotaur.

He
brought his mind back to the present. Serena had said she saw the
Sentinels broken, corrupted and useless. There would be no help
there. He tried to see around the fountain to where the Destroyer had
said the Sentinels were standing against the wall, but his view was
blocked. He shook his head and focused on moving as quietly as
possible.

They
reached the second door. Still no movement to be seen anywhere.

“
Okay,”
Maria said before they opened the door. “Does anyone else feel
like this is a trap? There was a battle here not very long ago and
now there's no sign of guards or anything. What part of that sounds
right to anybody?”

“
Well,
they said that at least ten of the renegades were killed,”
Jason said. He seemed to be thinking aloud. “Democritus and his
men probably took care of a couple more. That means there may only be
a dozen or so left.” He looked at all of them. “Maybe
they're holed up in this Court place you mentioned. The one near
Fitzgerald's office?” He stopped speaking and just shrugged.

“
Yeah,
maybe Jason,” Aaron said doubtfully. “But Democritus also
told Richard that the renegades said they were waiting for Justin.”
He waved at the empty room around them. “I don't see anybody
waiting. Do you?”

“
No
I don't. But right now I'm feeling really exposed standing here and
discussing this.” Jason kept looking from side to side. “Could
we please just get inside where we're out of sight?”

“
I'm
with you, Jason. Let's go.” Justin nodded to Maria who touched
a rune imbedded in the wall beside the door. It slid open quietly and
all four of them piled through quickly. The push of a similar runic
button closed the door behind them.

The
hallway ran on a few yards and then turned sharply to the left.

“
Wow,”
Jason exclaimed. He was looking at the ornate carvings, carefully
colored, that covered both walls. Mythological creatures, great
battles and weird flying craft were displayed in spectacular detail.

“
Justin,
it's beautiful,” Maria said as she looked around in delight.

“
Yeah,
I'd forgotten how cool it is,” Justin said. He took a moment to
appreciate the artwork. Aaron had admired the pictures as well but
now just gave them a glance and then went back to listening and
watching.

They
turned the corner and up ahead was the door that Justin remembered.
There was no button, no visible lock. The door was simply a slab of
stone that seemed tough enough to stop a battering ram.

The
pictures in this section of the hall were all of monsters. Justin
pointed them out.

“
See?
These are all of the creatures you can summon when you play Arena.”
He stared at the largest picture, one that looked like a wingless
dragon. “You know, Aaron, we never did find out if this guy was
in the game, did we?”

Aaron
spared the dragon a quick look. “No, we didn't. But could we
focus, please? This place is freaking me out right now.” He
sounded very nervous.

“
Right,”
Justin said, a bit embarrassed.

They
finally stood in front of the door and Jason and Maria stared at it
in confusion.

“
Okay,
I suppose this would be a terrific prison for the Guardians, Justin,”
Maria said, sounding confused. “But how could anyone open it?”

“
Oh,
Justin has the key,” Aaron said with a grin. “Just watch
and see.”

Justin
rolled his eyes at Aaron's enthusiasm. He looked at each of them.
“Are you ready?”

They all
nodded and he took a deep breath. “Okay, here we go.”

Justin
opened his right hand and summoned the rune on his palm. The mark
flared up, its silver light shining brightly in the dim hallway. Then
he turned and placed his palm against the door.

A
muffled grinding noise made all of them step back. And then with a
loud crack, the door squealed and rose into the ceiling. Ahead of
them was total darkness, except for a small glowing ball of light
that hovered at chest height several feet inside the room. The dim
glow barely pushed aside the gloom.

The four
friends stepped across the threshold and approached the light. As
they did so, the door squealed and groaned and closed tightly behind
them.

“
What
exactly is that, Justin?” Maria asked as they stood looking
down at the glowing ball.

“
It
is cheese for the mouse, my dear,” came a voice from the
darkness. Without warning the glowing light was extinguished and they
were left in utter darkness.

“
And
my prey took the bait. Welcome, heir of Cronus. It is about time that
we met, don't you think?”

Suddenly, light blazed all around them and the four
teens were momentarily blinded. Justin covered his eyes for a few
seconds, blinking back tears. When he could finally see through the
blur, he saw the Arena room almost exactly as he remembered it.

The
room was as large as the main room outside.
There
were many rows of seats leading down from the walls to a large oval
area, with a floor made of silvery metal. The light that had flared
on was comparable to the light of a clear summer's day.

The hovering glowing ball was gone. Instead, at either
end of the floor, were several small square pillars, each about four
feet tall, topped with metal boards covered with runes.

What was different from Justin's last visit was the fact
that there were occupants in some of the seats in the room.

At the far end of the arena, near the top of the rows of
seats, was a small group of six people. Even from a distance, Justin
knew that they were the captive Guardians. Mrs. Mallon and Mr.
Bellisle were among them and Justin felt a wave of relief knowing
that they were still alive. But he saw the bruises on their faces and
arms and he could tell that they had been abused. They also looked
painfully thin and frail. Mrs. Mallon had a hand to her mouth and she
watched him with fear in her eyes. Fear for him, he realized, not for
herself.

After his feeling of relief came one of rage. How could
anyone harm two such sweet people? What had they done to anyone to
deserve that? He looked down at the arena floor at a second, larger
group

This must be the so-called renegades. There were about a
dozen of them, all dressed in red robes. Some of the robes were torn
and bloody and Justin could see injuries on several of the figures,
men and women alike. He felt a sense of satisfaction. At least
Democritus had bloodied them in the end.

And then the group parted and, sitting on a seat in the
lowest tier of the arena, was a person who must be the leader of the
invaders. Justin felt a thrill of anger and fear as he saw the
figure. This was the one to blame for all the misery, for all the
pain and death. This was his true enemy.

He began to walk forward toward the renegades when Aaron
caught his shoulder. “Justin, hang on. Are you nuts? They're
waiting for us. It was a trap all along! C'mon man, we have to get
out of here!”

Justin turned and looked at his friend. He had no idea
what expression was on his face, but Aaron took a step back.

“
Get
out of here? Aaron, that's Mrs. Mallon over there. And Mr. Bellisle.”
He pointed at the group in red robes. Their leader was still seated
and Justin couldn't quite make him out. “Those are the people
responsible for killing Democritus, and for killing the Guardians.
Not to mention putting us through everything we've been through these
past weeks. And you want to leave?” He was incredulous.

“
Justin,
calm down.” Maria gave his shoulder a shake. When he whipped
around to look at her, she stood her ground and spoke in a reasonable
tone. “We came here to rescue your friends, not take part in an
open battle. Look at them. If the renegades wanted to, they could
kill all six of the prisoners before you got near them. We aren't up
to taking on a dozen trained warriors, not to mention whatever powers
their leader has. We have to retreat and rethink this.”

Justin blinked and shook his head, trying to push back
the hatred and actually think. She's right, you idiot, he told
himself. Do you want their deaths on your conscience? You can't help
the Guardians. Maybe later, but not now.

“
Why
the reluctance to come forward and meet me?”

Justin turned and looked for the source of that voice,
the same one that had spoken in the dark. It was the renegade's
leader. He finally stood up and Justin knew he was gaping at the
distant figure.